Ponyo After Story
by CrackShiper
Summary: We all know of the story of Studio Ghibli's stunning movie, Ponyo, but what were Ponyo and Sosuke's life like afterward? Was it a life full of happiness, or something much darker than you had originally imagined? What is it that Granmamare said to Sosuke's mom that day? What were the limits of Ponyo's ability to become human?
1. Chapter 1

Part One: Elementary School  
Chapter One: Uniform

Ponyo stood in front of the mirror, gazing at her reflection. The uniform she wore was a baby-blue-and-white sailor uniform with a lining at the hem of the dress designed to look like waves, and had a matching white beret wrapped with a shiny blue ribbon.

Today was Sosuke and Ponyo's first day of kindergarten, and that meant a new uniform. She never wore much of anything other than her typical red dress, but the uniform for her elementary school seemed to fit her amazing well, almost as if it was made for her.

"Ponyo, it's time for breakfast," Sosuke told Ponyo as he stepped inside the room they shared together, wearing the boy's version of her uniform. As soon as Sosuke sat eyes on Ponyo, his breath caught in his throat, his face flushing a bright red.

Ponyo tilted her head with confusion at his strange reaction. She was still trying to get used to understanding some human emotions, though she has been watching lots of anime to help her learn. Ponyo thought about it, and she realized he was making the same face some of the characters make whenever something embarrassing happens.

"What's wrong, Sosuke?" Ponyo asked with a silly smile, giggling slightly at the thought of something embarrassing happening to Sosuke. Maybe his pants had ripped or maybe Sosuke's mom, Lisa, had said something funny that she hadn't heard. "Sosuke's making a funny face."

"N-nothing is wrong! Just, just-!" Sosuke gulped, looking very intently at the floor. "Just please hurry down for breakfast!" Sosuke slammed the door closed and ran down the stairs, leaving Ponyo behind with a very confused look on her face.

"Where's Ponyo?" Lisa asked Sosuke with a bright smile on her face. Even though she was in a rush, she was excited about bringing Ponyo to school for her first time. It's something that the whole town has been talking about ever since the day Ponyo and Sosuke shared that kiss, that it would be great to see these two grow up together and go to school together – even just the thought of seeing Ponyo, the magical little girl that used to be a fish, in the Hisakawa school uniform was an exciting thought to everyone.

"She's coming," was all Sosuke said as he sat down at the table, blushing so much that his ears were red.

Lisa looked at him suspiciously, but said nothing. She was excited to have Ponyo at the house, don't get her wrong, but as she looked at Sosuke with his flustered face, she's starting to question if it was a good idea to put them in the same room. Lisa had originally thought it would be a good temporary place to have her sleep until they could get an adaption to the house built, since they are both still so young, but she couldn't help being worried about what's going to happen, especially since she'd already seen what great lengths they would go for each other.

As Lisa set the table, Ponyo came storming down the stairs excitedly with a huge grin on her face and screamed out excitedly "HAM!"

"Ponyo, you're supposed to say good morning," Lisa corrected with a giggle, serving the eggs and ham breakfast with a bowl rice that she had prepared for them all. "My, you look so cute in your uniform! Are you excited for going to school with Sosuke for the first time today?"

"Yes!" Ponyo replied happily and leaped into her chair, about to dig in before stopping herself mid-reach for a slice of ham. Ponyo readjusted herself in her chair until she was sitting properly before clapping her hands together and calmingly saying "Itadakimasu."

"Good job, Ponyo!" Sosuke praised Ponyo as Lisa pet her head approvingly.

Ponyo giggled with a huge smile on her face as she picked up her chopsticks - with her hands instead of her feet - and then picked up the ham slices and gulped them down without even chewing.

"Well, it's progress," Lisa said with a chuckle before sitting down at her seat and picking up her own chopsticks. "Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu," Sosuke echoed, digging into his breakfast as well.

"What's a school like?" Ponyo asked Sosuke after gulping down her second slice of ham. "Do we swim together in the ocean?"

"No, Ponyo, that's a school of fish," Lisa corrected her with a giggle. "A school for humans is where you learn to do things like read and write and solve math problems or learn about other countries and their languages."

"OOO, OOOO, I WANT TO LEARN A BUNCH OF LANGUAGES!" Ponyo screamed out with excitement, her face covered in rice. "I WANT TO LEARN A BUNCH OF LANGUAGES SO THAT I CAN BE FRIENDS WITH EVERY HUMAN IN THE WORLD!"

"But learning a new language is hard," Sosuke informed Ponyo sadly. "And you won't start learning them until your first year of junior high."

At Ponyo's saddened look, Lisa quickly added "But we could possibly hire a language tutor so that you can start learning earlier."

Ponyo looked at her brightly. "Really?!"

"Really," Lisa assured her with a smile. "Now hurry up and eat, we don't have much time."

The ride to school was so exciting for Ponyo, and it was contagious to everyone they passed as she stuck her head out the car window and waved at everyone. Many of the town's folk waved back and greeted Ponyo with big smiles on their faces, most of them calling their complements to how good she looked in her school uniform.

Most of the towns folk had taken a great liking to Ponyo, saying that she was a blessing from the sea, a gift to them from the Goddess Of Mercy herself. No one blamed her for the town being nearly completely taken over by the water, seeing as how there were no casualties and as soon as the water went back down there was surprisingly no damage to anything, as if it all had been protected by some type of magic. Not-to-mention the fact that all of the residents at the nursing home became blessed with the strength and agility that they had when they were young.

As they began to drive over the bridge, they stopped temporarily upon seeing Granmamare waiting for them.

"MAMA!" Ponyo squealed with excitement as she shot out of the car, Sosuke quickly following behind her, both of them sharing the same grin.

"Good morning Ponyo, Sosuke, Lisa," Granmamare told them all in a soft, soothing tone. "I take it you are happy with your new life as a human so far?"

"Yes!" Ponyo answered happily. "Ponyo eats ham!"

"We are taking care of her," Lisa reassured Garnmamare, stepping forward and placing her hands on Ponyo and Sosuke's shoulders. "And so is everyone else in town. You don't have to worry."

"I wasn't worried about her," Granmamare told Lisa, looking over at Sosuke. "I was worried about your son."

"Sosuke?" Ponyo breathed out with confusion, looking back and forth from Sosuke and Granmamare.

"You've been exposed to a lot of magic, little one," the goddess cooned, brushing her hand against Sosuke's cheek. "You are going to have to follow some rules if you want to stay human. If you want Ponyo to stay human."

"What?" Sosuke said with shock, his eyes filling with horror.

"You said they had more time," Lisa said sadly, though she held herself strong. "You said they had multiple years-"

"And they do," Granmamare interrupted. "But before they get there, Sosuke needs to prepare. It's a simple task, nothing too hard, just needs to grow out his hair."

"Is that all?" Lisa said as Sosuke opened his mouth. "I really need to get them to school."

"That is all," Granmamare told her with the slight bow of her head, starting to turn around and swim back to the ocean. "I do not wish to make Ponyo late for her first day of school." She waved at Ponyo, her gentle smile not seeming to fit with the mood she was leaving. "I will see you again, Sosuke."

"Bye-bye, mama!" Ponyo called out to Granmamare, though her voice wasn't as cheerful as it normally was as she waved goodbye.

"Come on, kids," Lisa told them, pushing them back to the car, as she watched Granmamare disappear into the depths of the ocean. "We should hurry up and head to the opening ceremony."

For the rest of the car ride, they drove in silence. Lisa just focused on the road with her hands clenched tightly to the steering wheel, Sosuke looked down at the floor board with a look like he was still trying to process everything that had been said, and even Ponyo didn't feel like waving to everyone anymore and simply just picked at the hem of her dress.

"Mom–"

"It was nothing you need to worry about, sweetie," Lisa quickly interrupted Sosuke. "It's nothing you have to worry about for years to come. Let's just . . . focus on what's happening now! It's a big day today, you two going to your first day of school!" Lisa tried to sound cheerful, but tears began to streak her face. "You two are going to have so much fun together! You are going to make so many friends, and learn how to read and write and to solve puzzles-!"

Lisa could say no more as she parked the car in front of the school, breaking down as her head hits the car horn, a long, loud blast of a siren escaping the car and blocking out the sounds of her crying.

Ponyo covered up her ears with a grimace, but Sosuke just focused on his mom, pulling her in for a hug. He had no idea what was going on, and had a thousand questions to ask, but all he cared about right now was getting his mom to stop crying. He hated seeing his mom cry - his strong, cheerful mom reduced to sobs was just a painful sight for him to see. It normally happened whenever she and Koichi argued, after they put Sosuke to bed and thought he was asleep. She would always argue about how Koichi was spending too much time at sea on his fishing boat instead of at home, and he would always fight back saying that they probably wouldn't have a home if he didn't put in so many hours on his fishing boat. It would always end with Lisa crying and Koichi hugging her as he repeated over and over again that he was sorry and saying how much he loved her and Sosuke.

Lisa lifted her head and meekly smiled down at Sosuke, wiping away her tears. "Thank you, Sosuke." Lisa took in a deep breath, her back straightening as she got her normal shinning, confident smile her face. "Now, let's go in!"

The opening was rather boring to Ponyo. She couldn't understand some of the big words the teachers and principal were using, making her hope that she would soon be able to understand all of those in her classes.

"Now, I have a surprise for you all," the principal said finally, snapping Ponyo out of her bored daze. "Now, I'm sure all of you know about our towns special little girl, Ponyo, has joined our school starting today to experience what a school is like." People started to excited, looking over at Ponyo and whispering things eagerly to each other. "And I have asked a head of time, and Ponyo would like to say a few words for us. Ponyo?"  
"PRESENT!" Ponyo exclaimed excitedly, quickly standing up in her chair and waving her hand back and forth, causing everyone to giggle and laugh at her silliness. Ponyo jumped off the chair, grabbed Sosuke's hand, and began to run to the stage, dragging Sosuke behind her.

"Ponyo!" Sosuke called out to his friend with dismay, struggling to keep up with her. "Slow down, Ponyo!"

Ponyo smiled brightly, ignoring his cries, and ran up the stairs with Sosuke in tow, not stopping until they were right in front of the mic stand, which they shortened down to their size.

"HI!" Ponyo yelled into the mic, but after cringing at its loudness, gets more quiet. "I'm Ponyo! I love ham! And this is Sosuke!" Ponyo raised up Sosuke's hand and pointed at him. "Ponyo loves Sosuke, too!"

The audience laughed with amusement. Lisa let out a sigh, despite the smile on her face.

"Ponyo, I don't think that's what they want you to say," Sosuke says with a chuckle.

"What do they want me to say?" Ponyo asks, tilting her head with curiosity.

"Well, um," Sosuke said into the mic, trying to think of what they really did want her to say. "Why did you want to go to school?"

"To make friends!" Ponyo said proudly with a big, childish grin on her face. "Ponyo wants to make friends at school with Sosuke!"

A united "Awwwww!" comes from most of the audience at Ponyo's cuteness.

"What about the classes?" Sosuke continued, seeming to enjoy himself. "Is there any certain subjects you are looking forward to?"

"Ponyo wants to learn how to speak in many languages!" Ponyo called out excitedly. "And how to make ham!"

Lisa chuckled, muttering "Oh, Ponyo," to herself with affection.

"They do have cooking classes here for when you're older," Sosuke said with a laugh. "But I don't think they teach you specifically how to cook ham."

"Oh," Ponyo said, looking a little sad, before brightening up again. "What about you, Sosuke? What do you want to learn here?"

"Um . . ." Sosuke never thought about that before. What did he want to learn about?  
Sosuke flashed back to when Ponyo and he were riding his toy boat across the water on their hunt to try and find his mom, and how he would point to all of the different fish in the water below them and Ponyo would name them all for him. There were so many sizes and colors of fish, and so many that he never heard of and doubted he could ever pronounce their names. He also thought about how glad he felt when he saved Ponyo from that glass jar back when she was still a fish, how fascinated he felt as he looked at her bright orange scales.

"I'd like to learn about fish!" Sosuke said excitedly. "I want to learn about all different kinds of fish in the ocean!"

Another "Awwwww!" was said by the audience, Lisa looking surprised. She remembered all the times Sosuke had said he wanted to be a fisherman like his father, but this was the first time she heard of him specifically wanting to learn about the fish. A smile crept along her face as she watched Ponyo and Sosuke continue to ask each other questions about their hopes and dreams, looking at how happy the two of them looked.

 _It's all thanks to Ponyo_ , Lisa thought to herself with pride in her two, beautiful children. _Ponyo helped inspired this dream in him._

'Many good things will come to Sosuke from staying by Ponyo's side,' Granmamare's voice echoed in Lisa's head. 'But there are also many bad things that will come to them as well as their children as they continue to love each other in this forbidden romance.'

Lisa gripped her fist tightly, forcing herself to keep a smile on her face as the Pricipal got Ponyo and Sosuke to stop talking and started to wrap up the ceremony. _I've already cried too much today, I don't want them to worry any further._  
But as the two came back over to their seats, Ponyo chatting with excitement, Sosuke placed his hands onto hers and looked up at Lisa with worry.

"I'm so proud of you two!" Lisa told them and she brought both of them into a huge hug, Ponyo giggling and squirming about as Sosuke just looked at her with concern.

 _Sosuke is so sharp_ , Lisa thought to herself, burying her tears in fake laughter. _He'll definitely grow up into a fine man._

 _If he grows up_ , she added darkly, remembering the conversation she had with Granmamare on that fated day, when all of their lives changed forever.

For better or for worse, Lisa didn't know.

 **-**

 **A/N - First chapter done! :D**

 **Now, for those of you that are wondering where this fanfiction is going to go, this is basically going to be story following Ponyo and Sosuke's life after the movie Ponyo ended, and this is going to go on for a** **loooooong time. The first part is going to be about the things happening to them during elementary school, then after that I plan on skipping middle school and going straight to high school, and so on. Sosuke will probably be in his thirties by the time this fanfiction ends.**

 **So, if you like what you see so far, you better strap in, because this is going to be a long and rocky road.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait, here is the second part!**

 **Guest: Thank you! A lot of the original cast will appear in the story except for maybe the older ladies, I am not really sure what to do with them honestly.**

Part One: Elementary School  
Chapter Two: Friends and Roses

"Kumiko! Karen!" Ponyo called out eagerly as she ran towards her two 'friends,' dragging along Sosuke as usual, after the bell rang for lunch. "Let's eat together!"

"Like I would ever-!" Kumiko started, fuming as she always did when it came to Ponyo, whom she still didn't forgive for spitting water in her face back when she was still a fish.

"We would love to, Ponyo!" Karen interjected, smiling brightly as she nudged Kumiko's side. Normally Karen would just follow Kumiko anywhere blindly, but Karen wanted the four of them to become friends, so she decided to take a stand. "Wouldn't we, Kumiko-san?"

Kumiko glared at Karen and then turned toward Ponyo, sticking her tongue out while pulling down her lower eyelid.

Ponyo laughed and pulled down the edges of her mouth and stared up at the ceiling, thinking they were making funny faces.

"So, where should we eat?" Karen asked Sosuke with a smile.

"There's a table right outside that's empty," Sosuke suggested, looking out the hallway windows. "And it's really good weather out there right now."

"Yay! Outside, outside!" Ponyo yelled out with excitement, bolting out the door, once again dragging Sosuke along for the ride.

Sosuke called out for her to stop, his eyes begging for help as he looked back at Kumiko and Karen. Kumiko simply crossed her arms and looked away with her nose high up in the air, while Karen just chuckled at his dismay.

It has been two months since school started, and still Ponyo was still as excited as ever to be at Hisakawa, and constantly talked about how she couldn't wait to spend her whole school life there, since Hisakawa was a combined elementary, junior, and high school plus a college. And while she was always excited to learn new things, she was – to put it bluntly – pretty stupid, which was amazing to Karen that the child of such a wise mother could be so foolish.

"Why do we have to sit with them," Kumiko complained as always, her normally preppy mood turning sour whenever Sosuke and Ponyo were involved. "Come on, let's just sit with Hana-san and Ageha-chan today, like we normally do!"

"Hana-san and Ageha-chan are still angry at you for drawing those pictures of them in art class," Karen says with a sigh.

"I thought it looked good," Kumiko pouted as they stepped out the door together, joining Ponyo and Sosuke outside. "They are the mean ones for thinking I was making fun of them!"

Karen, about to say something more, stopped as a gentle breeze rolled in and grazed her skin.

Karen closed her eyes and lifted up her arms, facing the wind head-on. Karen always liked the wind, but she found herself in love with it after the day Ponyo flooded the town. A little bit of chaos in her mother's perfect world was thrilling to Karen.

"What are you doing?" Ponyo asked Karen, just a couple of centimeters from her face.

"Gwah!" Karen exclaimed with shock, backing up from large, curious face that filled her vision.

"Karen's . . . scared?" Ponyo said with confusion, getting better at recognizing human emotions.

"Yeah, Ponyo, you really scared her," Sosuke informed her with a gentle smile that glowed with pride for Ponyo being able to recognize the emotions she's never been good with. "Try not to put your face right in front of other people's faces while their eyes are closed."

Ponyo thought hard for a moment, and then put her hands on her forehead. "Owie?"

Sosuke was confused at first, but then he remembered the morning that the town was flooded when Ponyo had put her face right in front of his when she tried to wake him up and they ended up slamming their foreheads together. "Yeah, Ponyo. Owie."

Ponyo looked back at Karen and stepped toward her. "Sorry," Ponyo said before leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead. "All better?"

Karen's face turned bright red as she nodded her head. "Thank you, Ponyo."

Ponyo smiled brightly and let out a giggle.

"You are so weird," Kumiko mumbled to herself, crossing her arms again as she pouted.

Kumiko thought Ponyo was weird since Sosuke first showed her to Kumiko, but how weird Kumiko thought she was just escalated in their art class that day. Normally they worked with crayons or markers, though today they were going to be working with paint for the first time, and Ponyo had her own way of painting.

Ponyo had a huge, ecstatic smile on her face as she did a handstand on her chair, painting an upside-down picture on the canvas before her with a paint brush that she held between her toes. And the thing that irritated Kumiko the most about this was that Ponyo was _really_ good at painting – much better than she was, though Kumiko would never admit it out loud.

"Wow, Ponyo!" their art teacher, Akiyama-sensei, said with surprise, bending over and turning her head to look at Ponyo's painting in the right direction. "Is that you and Sosuke? Who are the other people standing around you two?"

"That's Lisa, Koichi, and daddy!" Ponyo told her happily. "And the big, beautiful lady behind them is mama! She watches over all of us to make sure we are all happy!"

"Great work, Ponyo," Akiyama-sensei said, reflecting Ponyo's smile before walking away to check up on the other students.

Kumiko noticed that during those two's conversation, Sosuke had looked up from his finger painting and smiled a smile he only ever showed when Ponyo was involved, gazing at Ponyo as she continued to paint with her feet.

 _What makes her so special?_ Kumiko thought with a pout, turning back to her not-so-good painting, which was supposed to be a self-portrait, but the bow on her head looked like a foot and her face looked like a deformed orange.

"Dad!" Sosuke called out with surprise as Koichi stepped through the door with a big bouquet of red roses in hand.

"Hey there, Sosuke!" Koichi said happily, sweeping him up into a hug with his free arm. "How's my little captain?"

"Good!" Sosuke said happily as they stepped into the dining room, where Ponyo was setting the table. "Ponyo, look! Dad's home!"

"Koichi, Koichi, Koichi, Koichi!" Ponyo chanted with excitement, jumping in circles around Koichi.

"Hey there, Ponyo!" he said with laughter, trying to keep an eye on her, but she was so quick that she seemed to be disappearing and reappearing right before his eyes. "You doing good?"

"Ponyo's good! Ponyo's REALLY good!" she told him excitedly. "Ponyo loves school!"

"She sure does," Lisa said with a stiff smile, leaning against the frame of the kitchen door, arms crossed over her pink apron.  
Sosuke noticed Koichi's back stiffen as he sat him down, turning towards his wife and holding out the bouquet of roses towards her. "For you, my love."

"Thank you," Lisa replied, not sounding thankful at all, as she stepped over to him to take the flowers from his hands and pecked him on the cheek.

Sosuke's smile faded. He could tell things were uneasy between his parents, and the more strained they got, the more time Koichi spent out on his fishing boat.

As they sat down for dinner, it started off mostly silent beyond Ponyo excitedly chattering off about school, but then Koichi mistakenly walked into an argument when he tried to change the subject.

"You know, since tomorrow's a Sunday," Koichi started off a statement he had made multiple times before. "Why don't I take Sosuke out on the fishing boat tomorrow? And, of course, Ponyo can come along as well, if she would like."

Normally, Sosuke would be excited about his weekend trips, but he's been getting lessons of the ocean from Ponyo's father, Fujimoto, and he's learn about all the pollutants that are often put into the sea from fishing boats and how often times their fishing nets, if they use the wrong kind, can trap and kill other sea creatures. After learning all of this, Sosuke was starting to get less and less proud of his father being a fisherman, and was quickly losing interest in becoming a fisherman himself.

"Sosuke doesn't want to become a fisherman anymore," Lisa informed Koichi stiffly. "He wants to study fish."

"Well, he can learn all about fish on my boat," Koichi retorted with a smile, patting Sosuke's back. "I can teach you all about shrimp and tuna–"

"I don't want to just learn about shrimp and tuna, dad," Sosuke interrupted, surprising everyone at the table, even himself. "I want to learn about fish like bothriolepis, dipnorhynchus, and devonynchus."

"Oh . . ." Koichi said with confusion, trying to process what his son just said. "Those are rather, um, big words . . . where did you learn those from?"

"From Ponyo and Fujimoto," Lisa told Koichi. "They've both been teaching Sosuke a lot about the ocean and it's creatures."

"And you really enjoy this?" Koichi asked Sosuke with a raised eyebrow. "Learning about these . . . devon-in-cus?"

"Oh, of course he enjoys it, Koichi!" Lisa yelled at him, slamming her fist on the table and making the dishes on the table clatter, Sosuke and Ponyo flinching. "Why else would he specifically ask Fujimoto for lessons on the ocean!"

"Well, I'm sorry," Koichi yells back. "But I wasn't really informed that my son was taking any lessons–!"

"He's _our_ son," Lisa corrects him sternly. "And you shouldn't need to be informed on how our son is doing! If you actually came home more often, or even bothered with going to Ponyo and Sosuke's opening ceremony–!"

"I have to do something to earn money, don't I?!" Koichi yelled out furiously. "It's not like your job helps out with the bills any!"

There is a stunned silence as Lisa just sat there, opening and closing her mouth in confusion as to what to say. Suddenly, tears began to streak her face as she got up and walked out, Koichi's eyes filling with regret as he went after her, the faint mumbling of "I'm so sorry . . . I love you . . . I love you so much . . ." being heard from the other room.

"Sosuke . . ." Ponyo said with a trembling voice, clutching her chest, right above where her heart was. "I'm scared . . . I'm really scared . . ."

Sosuke slowly got out of his seat and went over to Ponyo, pulling her into a hug. "Me, too, Ponyo. I'm really scared, too."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, sorry for the loooong wait! I now have six followers and four favorites, wow! You guys are awesome! As a special thank you, and as an apology, enjoy the double-chapter update! :D**

Part One: Elementary School  
Chapter Three: Summer Break

"Where are you, Sosuke~?" Koichi called out into the house playfully as Sosuke hid in one of the kitchen cabinets, trying his hardest not to laugh. "I'm going to find you~!"

Sosuke could hear his father stalking around the house, often times screaming out "HAH!" as he thought he found him, only to be pushed back to square one. I was starting to become unbearable for Sosuke to hold in his giggles, but he was determined not to be found.

It was the third day of summer break and Sosuke was playing hide-and-go-seek with Koichi while Lisa and Ponyo were out having a 'girl day,' as they called it. Well, what Lisa called it. Ponyo seemed to have no idea what it meant either, but was otherwise excited.

"HAH!" Koichi exclaimed at he quickly opened up the doors of the cabinet Sosuke was hiding in, Sosuke squealing with laughter as he is pulled out of cabinet and held up in the air. "I got you!"

As Koichi shook him in the air, the hair pins that held back Sosuke's bangs began to fall out, causing his long hair to start smacking him in the face.

"Woah," Koichi said with a chuckle, setting Sosuke down on the counter and fixing his hair clips. "We really need to get your hair cut."

"NO!" Sosuke screamed, putting his hands protectively over his hair. "I have to grow it out!"

Koichi blinked with surprise. "Why?" Sosuke was silent. "Sosuke, why do you have to grow out your hair?"

"Ponyo's mama said I had to," was all Sosuke said.

"You mean Granmamare?" Koichi asked with confusion. "Why would she tell you you had to grow out your hair?"

"I don't know," Sosuke told his father honestly. "She just said that in order to stay with Ponyo I had to grow out my hair."

Koichi thought for a moment. "Does your mother know about this?"

Sosuke hesitated. Would his father grow to hate Lisa if he told him the truth? Would they get divorced if he spoke the truth? With these thoughts in mind, Sosuke decided to lie. "No, mom doesn't know. Ponyo's mama confronted me when I was by myself."

"And what were you doing out by yourself?" Koichi asked suspiciously.

"I was playing over by the shore behind the house, where I found Ponyo," Sosuke quickly answered, coming up with the answer on the spot. "And she just came up out of the water and told me I needed to grow out my hair."

"You're telling me Granmamare, the Goddess of Mercy, just came out of the water and told you to grow out your hair on a whim?"

"This is Ponyo's mama we are talking about," Sosuke said, the look in his eyes looking so mature that Koichi suddenly had a hard time believing he was only five-years-old. "She doesn't do anything without careful calculations and tons of preparation."

"Red or blue?" Lisa asked Ponyo, holding up two children's dresses with a playful smile, obviously enjoying this 'girl's day' that she was having with Ponyo, whom she considered to be the daughter she never had. "Which do you think would look best on you?"

Ponyo looked back and forth between the two dresses, honestly not liking either of them too much, but then a dress on the rack behind Lisa caught her eye. Ponyo walked past Lisa to get a better look at the dress.

"Pretty!" Ponyo said at the same time that someone else standing next to Ponyo exclaimed "Perfect!"

Ponyo turned her head with shock and ended up looking directly at the equally shocked face of Kumiko.

"Kumiko!" Ponyo said joyfully, pulling her in for a hug.

"Stop it!" Kumiko yelled out with distaste, trying to push Ponyo away but her grip was tight.

"You're shopping for clothes too, Ponyo?" Karen asked, coming up from behind Kumiko.

"Karen!" Ponyo simply yelled out, letting go of the relieved Kumiko and hugging Karen instead.

"Oh, didn't you two girl's go to daycare with Sosuke?" Lisa asked Kumiko and Karen.

"Yes, ma'am," Karen replied politely, managing to get Ponyo to stop hugging her by just patting her head instead. "We also go to the same school as Sosuke and Ponyo and often eat lunch together."

"Well, nice to meet you both," Lisa said, shaking their hands. "I'm Sosuke's mom and Ponyo's guardian. You two can just call me Lisa, Ponyo does herself."

"Hm, how can you deal with Sosuke-kun? He's so obnoxious!" Kumiko said snobbishly, her nose high in the air.

"Kumiko-san!" Karen whispered to her with surprise.

Lisa simply laughed. "He's a handful, but you figure out how to deal with him after a while. Though that was a rather big word for your age, you must be very smart!"

Kumiko blushed and looked away. "It's not that big of a word . . ."

Karen was shocked by her reaction. Normally Kumiko bathed in people's praise and craved complements; this was the first time she'd been modest about, well, anything. Until that moment, Karen would never put the words 'Kumiko' and 'modest' in the same sentence without a 'never' in between.

"Kumiko's face red!" Ponyo called out loudly, pointing out the obvious and making Kumiko's face turn ever reder.

"Is not!" Kumiko yelled out angrily, weakly batting her fist against Ponyo's head. "My face is not red at all!"

"But, it is!" Ponyo said with confusion, oblivious to Kumiko's embarrassment.

"U-um, Kumiko-san-!" Karen flustered about, wanting to stop Kumiko from hitting Ponyo but afraid of what Kumiko what might do to her if she tried. "Kumiko, stop-!"

"Alright," Lisa said calmly, bending over to pick up Ponyo and Kumiko in each arm. "That's enough, girls."

"Put me down!" Karen yelled out in a fit, kicking and thrashing about in anger as Ponyo mimicked her in a fit of giggles. "I am the daughter of the principal of Hisekawa and can get Ponyo and Sosuke expelled!"

"Actually, you can't," Lisa said with a smirk. "Your father not only has a great relationship with me, but he just adores Sosuke and Ponyo, and would never do anything to lift a hand against us."

Kumiko let out a childish growl as Karen gazed up at Lisa with admiration. Lisa was so strong and prideful; exactly what Karen wanted to be like one day when she was older. Karen instantly wanted to get to know Lisa better.

"Speaking of which, where are you two's parents, anyway?" Lisa asked the two of them after finally letting Kumiko and Ponyo down, Kumiko snobbishly fixing her frilly dress as Ponyo went back to the dress she saw on the rack earlier that caught her eye. "Are they somewhere else in the shop?"

"No, ma'am," Karen answered politely. "Our moms are at the salon down the road getting their hair dyed and nails done, so they gave us some cash and sent us off to buy some new clothes while we wait."

"You guys walked over here by yourself?" Lisa asked them with shock, the two of them nodding their heads nonchalantly. "Do you girls do this often?"

"Every couple of weeks," Karen replied honestly.

As Lisa continued to ask them questions in her confusion that their mothers' would do such a thing, Ponyo looked up at a child-sized mannequin wearing a pink zipper-hoodie, navy blue t-shirt, and dark blue capris.

"Weird," Ponyo said simply, looking at the racks of clothes around her carefully, like a wild animal stalking it's prey.

Ponyo went over to a rack that had a black vest with golden detail on its chest pockets and brought it over to the mannequin, taking off it's pink jacket and replacing it with the vest. She taps her chin, feeling like it needed more. She spots a section preserved for accessories and dashes over to it, grabbing a thin, black belt with a gold-plated buckle and a black fedora that was decorated with golden flowers along the side. She assorts the accessories onto the mannequin, admiring her work.

"Pretty," Ponyo said simply, smiling at the mannequin's new, more stylish outfit.

While Ponyo and Kumiko, who had discovered they had a similar sense of fashion, were across the aisle, checking out dresses and skirts, Karen was looking at all of the clothes in the boy's section. Karen had never really been much of a fan of all of those pinks and purples covered in flowers and frills. All she needed was a good pair of jeans and a t-shirt and she was happy.

"Find something you like?" Lisa, who decided to watch over Kumiko and her while they were shopping, asked Karen with a smile.

Karen blushed and looked away, stepping away from the clothes rack she was looking at that was filled with Kodomo Challenge shirts. "No."

"Really?" Lisa continued. "Cause you seemed pretty interested in these clothes a moment ago. Do you like Kodomo Challenge? There are some dresses over by Ponyo that have Kodomo Challenge characters on them as well, you don't have to be in the boy's section to get them."

Karen stayed where she was, fumbling with her fingers as realization came over Lisa's face.

"Do you like getting your clothes from the boy's section?"

Karen didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes as she looked up at Lisa spoke for her.

Lisa's smile became softer. Lisa looked about her and then bent down to Karen and whispered in her ear "Don't tell anyone, but I like to shop in the boy's section too."

Karen looked up at her with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Yep," Lisa replied, her smile becoming brighter. "So don't feel embarrassed by it and just rock those clothes. Just because not _all_ of the girl's where them, doesn't mean that you are weird or all alone. I am here for you, okay?"

"Okay!" Karen said happily, reflecting Lisa's smile.

"That's good." Lisa ruffled Karen's hair with a chuckle. "Now, let's find you an outfit that all of the boy's will be jealous of!"

"Bye-bye, Ponyo!" Karen called out to Ponyo with a wave as Lisa dropped her and Kumiko off at their mothers' salon. "Bye-bye, Lisa!"

"Bye-bye!" Lisa waved back before driving off as Ponyo yelled "See you at school!"

"Hmh," Kumiko said snobbishly with a toss of her hair, which she was trying to grow out. "I don't know why that woman bothered to give us a ride. She acts like we are babies that can't cross a simple street."

Karen let out a little chuckle. Even though Kumiko always acted so high-and-mighty, in the end she really did hate it when people went out of their way to do something for her, even if it was just something as simple as getting a lift.

The two of them stepped into the salon as their mothers' were paying the people at the front desk, the gray streaks in their hair that had started to show up in their roots were once again hidden with a new layer of black hair dye, their nails fancied into a simple French tip.

"There you are, Ku~mi~ko~!" Kumiko's mother, Saki, called out to her daughter with love, her breath reeking with alcohol. "How is my pwecious little gurl doin'? Did you find lots and lots of pwetty little dresses?"

"Yep!" Kumiko replied with a smile, holding up three, stuffed shopping bags. "And a new hair bow!"  
"YAY~!" Saki called out happily, sloppily hugging her daughter.

Karen's mother, Miyuki, simply glared down at Karen's one, half-filled bag of clothing. "Let me guess, t-shirts and plain pants?"

Karen nodded her head honestly, her tiny hands gripping around the handles of the shopping bag.  
Miyuki sighed with disappointment. "What did I deserve to get such a tomboy for a daughter?"

"My apologizes, _Hahau_ ," Karen said formally, bowing apologetically.

"Tch, what a worthless daughter," Miyuki stated with irritation, walking over to Saki with a mask of pure polite kindness on her face. "Shall we go, Hisakawa-san?"

"Oh, Miyuki-chan~!" Saki said with a pout. "How many times do I have to tell you, call me Saki-san~! We are friends, after all! Right~?"

"Of course, Hisakawa-san," Miyuki said with a giggle she only ever lets out whenever she was sucking up to adults in higher positions then her.

With that, the four of them left the salon, a gentle breeze that greeted them on their way out seeming to give Karen hope.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry if the ending is a little weird, but I hope you enjoy this update nonetheless. xD**

Part One: Elementary School  
Chapter Four: Separation

Ponyo rushed about the small apartment, hurrying to get ready for school. In a blur of color, she was brushing her teeth, changing into her school uniform, brushing her hair, and putting together all of her things for class. Also in a rush, Lisa hurried to finish up breakfast for the two of them in the apartment's tiny kitchen and at the time was trying to finish up the last couple of paragraphs in her textbook, which she had to read for the nursing classes she was taking to try and earn a better paying job to help pay the bills. In reality, they had an hour before either of their classes started, but liked to show up to Hisekawa early so that they could visit Sosuke before having to go their separate ways.

It has been a year since Koichi and Lisa got divorced, and Koichi had gained custody rights of Sosuke and managed to keep the house, leaving Lisa suddenly homeless with a low-paying job and Ponyo to take care of. Now, with Ponyo and Sosuke almost through with their third year at Hisekawa, they managed to get a small, one bedroom apartment that not only worked with Lisa's currently income, but also was near both Hisekawa and the hospital where Lisa was taking her classes.

It's a little cramped, but it was better than before, when Lisa slept mostly in her car as she sent Ponyo off to spend the night at multiple friend's houses. Now that they had their own home, Lisa felt a little more confident in keeping her promise with Granmamare and Fujimoto to care for their precious daughter.

"Time to eat!" Lisa finally declared, setting down two plates of omelets and rice onto the floor by the bed.

"Itadakimasu!" Ponyo yelled out, eating the food with a pair of chopsticks she controlled with her feet while she focused her hands on brushing out all the knots in her now shoulder-length, curly hair.

"Idadakimawu," Lisa said with a mouth full of food, still working on finishing up her homework reading.

Sosuke woke up to an empty, lonely house that used to be full of so much life.

Ever since his parent's divorce, which seemed forever ago yet felt like it just happened yesterday, his small, lively house suddenly became so big and hallow, no longer greeted by the bright red hair of Ponyo or the smell of his mother cooking breakfast, but by a little note on the kitchen counter telling him that there was breakfast in the fridge for him heat up, signed "Love, Daddy ."

Koichi would try to make it home for dinner, but often times something would happen that would cause him to not come home until after Sosuke was already asleep. They would chat through the Morse code of the lights when he passed by, but it just wasn't the same as talking to him directly – laughing as he told him about what silly things Ponyo did in class that day or proudly telling him he got a hundred on the math quiz. He didn't mind Koichi always being gone all that much when Lisa and Ponyo still lived here since that helped him never feel lonely, but now, with the two of them moved to the other side of town, it was becoming more and more apparent to him just how neglectful his father was. Sosuke couldn't help but find himself starting to spite his father for always being gone, even though a part of him understood that Koichi was just working this hard in order take care of him.

After eating his breakfast – not even bothering to heat it up – Sosuke stepped out of the house, locked the door, and began his long walk to school. It was rather windy that morning, so he tied up his hair, which now reached about half-way down his back, in an attempt to keep his hair out of his face. Though there were still some small strands that smacked his face, it was better than having most of his hair attacking him to the point of accidently swallowing his hair a few times.

If there was one thing he hated most about having long hair, it was the moments when he swallowed his hair. God, it was disgusting and left an odd feeling in the back of his throat.

 _But I have to continue to grow it out_ , Sosuke thought to himself, gripping the handles of his backpack. _For Ponyo_.

"I'm glad you are so understanding, Sosuke."

Sosuke turned towards the shore with shock, coming face-to-face with Granmamare, the gentle smile on her face not matching the emotionless look in her eyes.

"Don't be so frightened, Sosuke," Granmamare says with a chuckle. "Surely you are used to me popping in and out as I please by now."

"But never when I'm not with Ponyo or Lisa," Sosuke stated with a raised eyebrow. "What is it that you want to speak with me by myself?"

"You are still so young, Sosuke," Granmamare cooned, caressing Sosuke's cheek. "No need to act so grown. You have yet to experience anything."

"I have experienced far more than most my age," Sosuke countered, removing her hand from his face.

"True," Granmamare agreed, bringing her arm back to her side, a sad look in her eyes. "But a flood, a magical fish, and a divorcé is nowhere near the experiences you will make as you grow older."

"What more do I need to experience?" Sosuke asked with a chuckle lined with ignorance. "Bills? College? Buying a house or a car? Getting a job?"

"Death," Granmamare answered seriously, her gentle smile still frozen on her face. "You must experience death and suffering and learn to break through it without cracking in the darkness. Only then will you truly be an experienced adult."

Sosuke was struck into silence, processing her words carefully. "Who is going to die, Granmamare? You wouldn't bring this up unless someone was going to die."

"Everyone dies, Sosuke," Granmamare said with a chuckle that was starting to sound demented to Sosuke's ears. "It's just a matter of when, where, and how."

"Granmamare!" Sosuke yelled out to the goddess as she receded back into the water. "Granmamare, tell me! Who is going to die?! Granmamare!"

His calls out to her were pointless, but still he continued to scream her name, fearful for the ones he loved.

When the three of them met up in front of Hisekawa, Sosuke tried to stay cheerful, but he couldn't help but question _Is Ponyo going to be the one to die? Or maybe mom? What if it's both of them?_

"Sosuke?" Lisa asked, seeing through the cracks of his mask. "What's wrong?"

Ponyo looked back and forth between Lisa and Sosuke with confusion. "Something's wrong with Sosuke?"

"Nothing is wrong, Ponyo," Sosuke reassured her with a smile, a look of relief coming across her face. Ponyo was always feeling left out of things because of how clueless she was towards human emotions, so Sosuke always tried to not express many emotions beyond happiness around her. "I probably just made a weird face when some of my hair got into my face and mom confused it with sadness or anger."

"Yeah, my bad," Lisa agreed, reflecting Sosuke's smile. "I didn't mean to confuse you, Ponyo. Now, isn't it about time you head to class? You had morning duty today, didn't you?"

"AH!" Ponyo exclaimed with shock, turning around and running into the school "See you at lunch, Sosuke! See you at home, Lisa!"

"Bye-bye!" Lisa called out with a smile, waving along with Sosuke until Ponyo disappeared into the building. She turned back to Sosuke, the smile no longer on her face. "What's wrong, Sosuke? What do you not want to tell Ponyo?"

"Mom," Sosuke starts, still looking off in the direction where Ponyo ran off. "I love you, but – if I don't want to tell Ponyo something, what makes you think I want to tell you?"

Lisa was take aback by his words, especially since he didn't sound like some defient little kid going through a rebellious age, but a full grown man that had been through so much that he forgot how to smile. "Sosuke . . ."

Sosuke looked over at her, his eyes full of sadness.

Lisa took a deep breath. "Just . . . have fun at school today."

Sosuke flashed a smile that didn't match the hollowness in his eyes. "I always do."

As Karen left the classroom for lunch with Ponyo, she couldn't help but feel excited. Since Kumiko was in a different classroom, she never really got to see her a lot during school, except during lunch. Walking outside to the table they always sat at for lunch, Karen was greeted by Kumiko's smooth, black hair flowing in the wind, a light blue head band decorated with a fabric flower adding a beautiful touch to her hair while complementing her school uniform. She just sat there by herself, looking bored as she played with a strand of her hair, but Karen couldn't help but think she looked so beautiful and elegant.

"Kumiko!" Ponyo yelled out joyfully, whipping her arm back and forth in a crazy wave.

As Kumiko and saw the two of them walking towards her, a smile came across her face, which she quickly masked with a snobbish pout. "What took you two so long? And where's Sosuke?"

Karen's happiness fell when she brought up Sosuke's name, but continued to smile. "I think I heard something about his class getting in trouble and having to spend some extra time after the bell because they weren't getting their work done."

Kumiko rolled her eyes as Ponyo and Karen sat down at the table. "I swear, Sosuke's class is just full of troublemakers. Why is he even in there?"

"All of the classes are just randomized," Karen said with a shrug. "It was just his luck that he ended up with a bunch of effortless brats."

"Anyway," Kumiko changed the subject with a flip of her hair. "Do you have my bento?"

"Yep," Karen told her, reaching into her book bag and pulling out two bentos – one blue the other pink – and handed the pink one over to Kumiko. "Today I made some onigiri with stir-fried vegetables in the center, chicken teriyaki, and an assortment of fresh fruits."

Kumiko opened up her bento, a wide smile spreading across her face as she smelled the decadent scent that escaped from the bento. "Karen, you are a fantastic cook."

"N-not really," Karen countered, feeling embarrassed. "I'm still learning."

"Well, if you're still learning," Kumiko began before taking a bite and letting out a small cry of delight. "Then I can't imagine how good of a cook you'll be when you're older. You would be a great wife."

Karen blushed at her words, but luckily Kumiko was too focused on eating to notice and Ponyo was just an airhead that wouldn't notice someone's embarrassment even if their whole face turned red. Karen quickly changed the subject with the arrival of Sosuke.

"Sorry I'm late," Sosuke apologized as he sat down with a sigh, Ponyo quickly handing him his bento with a big smile on her face. "Thanks, Ponyo."

Ponyo giggled euphorically as Sosuke pet her head.

"What did those bothersome yakuza do this time?" Kumiko asked him before taking another bite of one of her onigiris. "Flip her skirt?"

"They cursed sensei out in English, thinking they could get away with it," Sosuke said with a sigh. "But apparently sensei's husband was American, so she knew what they were saying."

"How did they even learn to say English cuss words?" Karen asked with confusion.

"Probably through American video games," Sosuke said with a shrug. "I hear them talking about games like GTA and Sleeping Dogs a lot."

"'Sleeping Dogs'?" Ponyo echoed with a giggle. "That game sounds cute!"

"It's not cute at all," Kumiko said with an annoyed look on her face. "It's very violent, all about blood, fighting, and breaking the law."

"Well, Wei Shen is an undercover cop," Karen added. "So it's not necessarily about breaking the law, but deciding what's more important – doing your job or protecting the yakuza you have come to call your friends."

"Why do you know so much about it?" Kumiko asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I – uh – watched Sosuke play it once," Karen lied immediately.

"I don't even have a–" Sosuke stopped upon seeing the pleading look in her eyes. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that. It's been so long since I last played it."

Kumiko looked back and forth between the two as she took a bite of one of the watermelon chucks with an angry look on her face.

"Sosuke doesn't have an XBOX," Ponyo stated as they walked over to the hospital down the road where Lisa worked, looking at Kumiko oddly with a tilt of her head, which Karen had come to learn meant that she was really curious about something. "Nor have you ever been over to Sosuke's house. Why would you say that you watched Sosuke play a game during lunch?"

"Well, don't tell Kumiko or _Hahau_ , but," Karen started off, not wanting to lie to Ponyo, "I'm secretly a bit of a gamer."

"Gamer?"

"It's a person that likes to play video games," Karen explained. "Well, I would like to play video games, but _Hahau_ always says that video games were just childish toys for boys and weren't meant to played by proper women, so I have never actually played video games before. I've just watched people play them on YouTube, but one day I hope to finally be able to play video games."

"Oh!" Ponyo exclaimed with a bright smile, her head straightening up. "Watching other people play video games sounds fun!"

"Maybe I can show you some clips today when we go to the library later with Lisa," Karen said with a giggle. Ponyo was so silly and cute, Karen liked to imagine her as the sister she never had. Kumiko and her have always been really close, but she never really thought of her as a sister, more like a . . . um . . . Karen wasn't sure what Kumiko was to her, but she definitely wasn't like a sister.

Karen had been playing with Lisa and Ponyo afterschool for a long time now. Often times, when Ponyo needed a place to sleep for the night, Karen would offer to share her bed with her. Though Karen would never tell her mom that Ponyo was spending the night because she was homeless, but just that they were just having a sleepover. Karen's mom, believing that her little girl was finally starting to act like a girl, allowed it. Most of the time.

As Ponyo and Karen were walking up the parking lot, they found Lisa putting some books in the trunk of her small car, which not that long ago was the closest thing to a home she and Ponyo had.

"Lisa!" the two of them called out happily, catching the attention of the single mom just as she was about to get into her car.

"And I was thinking that today might be the day that I finally managed to get out in time to pick you two up from school for a change," Lisa said as she always did, the pale circles under her eyes displaying how tired she was. "Are you guys ready to go to the library?"

"I have to pee!" Ponyo declared proudly before taking off towards the hospital entrance.

"I've never seen anyone to energetic about using the bathroom," Lisa said with a chuckle full of motherly love. She turned her attention to Karen. "Still too scared to wear the boy's uniform I gave you?"

Karen blushed furiously, rubbing her fingers against the hem of her shirt. "But won't it look weird? A girl wearing a boy's uniform to school . . ."

"Weird? Yes. Different? Yes." Lisa bent down to her height, looking Karen straight in the eyes with a smile on her face. "But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it. Throughout history, people have challenged the norm and came out on top. Why can't you?"

Karen was silent for a moment. "What if they start picking on me? What if they start calling me a freak? What if–?"

"Don't ask 'what if' questions," Lisa interrupted her. "I hate 'what if' questions. Who cares what might happen? Face it head on with a proud look on your face and declare boldly to everyone 'I am a girl that likes to dress like a boy'!"

"I can't say that!" Karen exclaimed. "That's too embarrassing!"

"You _will_ say it with pride!" Lisa said boldly, taking a battle stance. "In fact, you will say it now!"

"Now?!"

"Of course right now! Just like this!" Lisa took a death breath and cupped her hands around her mouth. "I AM A GIRL THAT LIKES TO DRESS LIKE A BOY!"

Karen jumped at the sound of Lisa's booming voice that echoed across the parking lot, as well as some other passing pedestrians.

"Now," Lisa said, looking down at Karen with strength and pride, the shinning sun reflecting off her hair and making her look like an angel in Karen's eyes. "It's your turn."

Karen looked down at her feet, tightening up her arms against her body, as she mumbled into her shirt, "I am a girl that likes to dress like a boy . . ."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I am a girl that likes to dress like a boy," Karen said a little more strongly, her head glancing up slightly.

"I can't hear you~!"

"I am a girl that likes to dress like a boy!" Karen said a bit louder, looking up at Lisa as the wind began to pick up around her.

"I still can't hear you!"

" _I am a girl that likes to dress like a boy_!" Karen yelled out with a smile on her face, the wind seeming to share her excitement.

"Louder!"

"I AM A GIRL THE LIKES TO DRESS LIKE A GIRL!" Karen screamed out at the top of her lungs, the wind rushing about her as a turtle dove, chirping loudly, flew past.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Lisa screamed along with her with laughter. "BE PROUD! BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE AND NEVER BACK DOWN!"

Karen and Lisa continued to yell out to their heart's desires as a very confused Ponyo walked toward them. Her questions were never answered due to the fact that Lisa and Karen were laughing too hard to breathe or speak.


End file.
